photography is taking over my life

So it started with meeting Mark. We met, fell in love, and knew we wanted to make eachother happy the rest of their lives.

Enter my love for weddings. Everything about them. Dressing up to go. Seeing old friends. Being lucky enough to witness two people pledging their love for one another and making the ultimate commitment. Crying during the ceremony (it's inevitable people). Seeing the beautiful reception details. Dancing, drinking, celebrating. All because two people fell in love. Honestly, I love every second of a wedding day.

Then I got turned on to wedding blogs. Disaster. I use the word disaster, because they have slowly started to consume my day and my thoughts. Any free time is spent checking new updates (oh thank you God for Google Reader). I get lost in these blogs: filled with love and beauty. I become enthralled and hypnotized by the imagery in front of me. These pictures and beutifully written words from the heart lead to day dreams, hopes, and insipration for what will ultimately be the most memorable moment of my life. Can't wait.

So, a favorite that I somehow stumbled upon is the photography of Millie Holloman and company. She and her team of photographers capture the essence of everything I hope to show in engagement pictures and our wedding photography. The emotion literally jumps off of the screen. It's brilliant, it's beautiful, and it's everything I want.

I happened to find this today:
I want to win the Get It Together Kit & a seat to the Love Affair Workshop.  GO read the details and register! http://www.loveaffairworkshop.com/

Millie herself is one of the presenters/founders of the workshop! In Dallas! How wonderful! Now it's quite clear that I'm no expert photgrapher. But I'd certainly love to be. We just upgraded this Christmas (thanks mom & dad) and got a smokin' camera. I have so much to learn...

Finances are tight right now. So no way could I finance the trip on my own. Hopefully I'll get ridiculously lucky and WIN!

Home re-renovations?

(new patio furniture purchased this weekend. love it!!)

Where to begin? Last year I suppose. I closed on my condo in July. Immediately began planning my renovations. Since the condo was a short sale, it was in pretty gross condition. So the first couple weekends were spent cleaning. Now in the 5 or so years the place has been around, I'm not sure it was ever cleaned. Not once. So yes, it literally took a couple weekends to get years worth of dust and filth off of every single surface in the place.

Now that the cleaning was done, what to do next? Paint. Mark and I spent every day at work, and every night at home, browsing pictures online, trying to come up with the colors that would make our home perfect, warm, and inviting.

Thank goodness for Sherwin Williams' quart sized samples. We must have tried 10-15 before we found exactly what we wanted. Proceed to paint the whole condo (though small, it took us a surprisingly long time). Furniture picked out, U-hauled it up from VB, upacked all my boxes, and officially moved in. Love my home, love being a homeowner.

All great, right? Well... I guess I'm just still not done with the 'decorating' part. I've printed all my pictures, found pretty frames to display the faces of my loved ones, and sprinkled around what I think of as nice little touches, making the place feel warmer and more home-y. But how is it that the master bedroom was the last to be tackled? I would have figured it would have been the first....

So this past weekend I decided it was time to do something about it. I figured the green on the walls was my issue. I couldn't find a bedspread I wanted to look with it, no pictures on the wall or art for above the bed. Mark and I started talking about other color possibilities and came up with a light purple/grayish color. We made it to Sherwin Williams early Saturday morning and picked up two colors, came home and tried them out. (I sent mom a picture to which she responded- "poor mark" haha. I helped!)

Turns out we like both colors. But I wasn't sure I could imagine the entire room in either option. We went out shopping for awhile to look for more additions to the room. I wanted window treatments, a deep purple blanket for the bed, a piece of art for above the bed, lamps.... But wouldn't you know all we could find were things to match the original green walls? So I took it as a sign that I was meant to stay with the green, for awhile anyways. We hung up curtains, made the bed look pretty, and painted back over the purple to get back to the original color (thank you hunny).

Still not sure I'm obsessed with it, but it's an obvious improvement. All I've felt is that the green makes the room feel so dark, and it has brightened up immensely. Once we invest in bedside lamps, I think it will make a world of difference.

Looks like 'army' green is here to stay!

Sweet (and lemony) Success

After one very painful Easter afternoon of several failed attempts at Angel Food Cake, I finally finally got it.
Sunday morning we got up and decided to work on this recipe again. We bought a new hand mixer from Bed, Bath, & Beyond in hopes that the cheaper Target model had been the culprit of our failure. While this may have played a small part in our inability to actually whip the egg whites, we discovered that it was something else.

Egg whites at ROOM TEMPERATURE. While I had let them warm a bit on my very first attempt, it was nowhere near the amount of time I should have given them. Letting the eggs warm out of their shells (with super fun egg white separator might I add) made all the difference. It was so fun for us to actually watch this recipe come together the way it was supposed to originally.
So recipe (by Giada of course!):

Angel Food Cake with Lemon Honey Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients
Cake:

12 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (or half a lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest, plus extra for garnish
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cake flour
Fresh mint sprigs

Sauce:
1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions
For the cake: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar. Using an electric hand mixer, beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 to 4 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks, about 2 minutes longer. Sprinkle the flour over the egg white mixture. Using a spatula, carefully fold in the flour until incorporated. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch nonstick angel food cake pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and a skewer inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall of the pan comes out clean. Invert the pan on a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the sauce: In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, honey,

and lemon juice until smooth. Pour into a serving pitcher.
Using a spatula, loosen the cake around the sides and middle.

Release the cake and place on a serving plate. Cut into slices and drizzle with the sauce.

Garnish with lemon zest and mint sprigs.

It ended up tasting pretty fantastic. The lemon honey yogurt really makes a world of difference.

We didn't use the mint sprigs this time, but i fully intend to the next time we prepare one!

Hopefully by then I will have also purchased a cooling rack.

I bake a lot. How do I not have one yet?

(ps... we worked hard to get this picture. Isn't it gorgeous?)

Feeling lemony, refreshed, and successful.

Mark's night in the kitchen

A few weekends ago, the Mark came in town on Thursday and had to entertain himself while I went off to work on Friday (this seems to be a running trend these days, and sucks for me!). Anyways, I suggested that he plan and prepare our dinner for that night since I'd be working all day long. Fortunately, he loved the suggestion. Anything that requires him having to do research, even if it's just in search of a recipe, is a tasking that he'll happily take on. Now boo hasn't cooked for me too many times, but each time he has, it's been some sort of fish. No exceptions this time and no complaints from yours truly!



For our dinner, he picked out Salmon with Brown Sugar and Bourbon Glaze. Along with it he made us long grain and wild rice (myseteriously one of my absolute favorites). What an absolute treat!! I got to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and a magazine as I heard my boy happily putting together a delicious meal for us. Now I'm not saying I'd want him to cook every night, after all, I really love being responsible for preparing our tasty (and hopefully healthy) meals and treats. But this Friday night surprise happened to be just what I needed that day.



Recipe for super tasty (and sweet!) Salmon follows:


Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
4 (6 ounce) salmon steaks
1/3 cup bourbon whiskey


Directions
Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Place salmon fillets on top of brown sugar mixture. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Turn salmon, and pour bourbon around the fillets. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Spoon glaze over the salmon, and serve.



Delish!

Apron needed please!

I've recently (within the past year or two) started to love time in the kitchen. Taking the time to prepare a meal gives me this silent sense of satisfaction. I love searching out new recipes, perusing the beautiful cookbooks already in my collection, and planning out the perfect treat for dinner. I have to say, it's so much more enjoyable on the weekends when Mark's here to keep me company/share the results.
A fun treat we made a few weeks ago: Giada's Pizza Pockets
We had a great time together in the kitchen putting these together. Though Mark's didn't end up as pretty, he was a big help and sure was proud of himself. ;)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces Italian turkey sausage
1 cup tightly-packed arugula (about 1 ounce)
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup (for topping)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (13.5-ounce) package of store-bought pizza crust
All-purpose flour, for rolling out pizza dough
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (we did store bought)

Directions
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium-sized, heavy skillet. Add the sausage and cook until crumbled and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until wilted. Turn off the heat and let cool about 10 minutes. Add the cream cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to a thin 20 by 12-inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise. The cut each half into 8 equal rectangles.
Spoon topping onto 1 side of each of the rectangles. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the rectangle with egg wash. Close the rectangle of pizza dough over the topping. Use a fork to seal and crimp the edges. Place the pizza pockets onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the top of each pizza pocket with egg wash. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce over low heat in a medium saucepan. Serve the hot pizza pockets with the marinara sauce alongside for dipping.

Overall, they turned out fab. Maybe would have used a little less arugula, a little more cheese? We'll experiment next time...

Playing catch up

Sitting here on the couch with Zues, Addie asleep on the floor, and Gracie by her food bowl hoping desperately I'll decide to give her another scoop of food before bed time. Taylor Swift's playing softly, tv's finally off. (Yes, I have heard the rumors that Ms. Swift has become something of a little Diva, but I couldn't care less. I love her like I love Miley. Only more.)

So what a surprisingly great night! Got home from work wanting to take Addie on a nice long walk to get her some exercise and to enjoy the weather. Good intentions don't always take me very far. It was wicked hot out. WICKED. So we came back up and Chels ended up calling to invite herself over! Yay- the best kind of calls!! We made mac and cheese, had a beer, caught up, and watched Glee! I just feel so sad that the best show on television hadn't been a regular part of her life until now. Thank goodness she has me to expose her to such life necessities ;)

Work was interesting today. Walked in to a stressful situation, though it didn't end up as horrible as I thought it was going to be. I'm still unsure how I feel about working in this office. It's certainly not miserable, almost always entertaining, and my days have been going by faster than in any rotation yet. There's a plus!

Downloaded this app I read about today on one my reader 'ShakeItPhoto'. I actually think it's the same one that Justin's had for awhile now. But it's pretty fantastic. Like a modern polaroid. You can take new pictures or use old ones to recreate them with a vintage affect. Love it. A couple from the cruise




Oooh which reminds me we SO need to finish the cruise book for Mark's parents!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow!

Easter goodness

Hello summer!!

Took my lunch out to the center courtyard to eat again today (this has become a must for me... Need to escape from the desk for awhile) and was surprised to find that for the second day in a row I was HOT outside. First week of April and I almost can't stand to be in the sun? Oh DC, your attempt at 'seasons' make me laugh.

What a wonderful Easter weekend this was. Let's recap, shall we?

Had to be at work on Friday while the family was here. I had one of those days where I did nothing but wish and wish and wish I was out of the office. Unlike my real job, they did let me go early. Really early in fact. So I was one of the last to leave at 2pm... Yay! Got home, rounded the troops, and made our way into the city to see the Cherry Blossoms. They were particularly gorgeous this year, but the crowds were just so overwhelming. Got the chance to snap a few pics, take mom and dad to a few monuments and memorials, and feel like a full fledged tourist for the day.

We attempted dinner in the city afterwards, but facing a minimum of an hour wait at each place we tried (except for the cigar bar, yuck!) was not exactly what we had in mind. So we hopped on the metro and ate outside at a restaurant at Pentagon Row. Bad service and bad food (for me anyways) couldn't taint the beautiful setting and wonderful family company. :)

No Giada for me... Decided to forego the trip as my friends wanted to embark on our trip earlier than originally planned. Many sad faces to follow.... But the rest of the day couldn't have been better. Got dressed (in my new favorite find from Anthropologie, making me feel sweet and delicate- so happy with my selection for the day) and drove down to Richmond with the girls. Amy's bridal shower marked the official start to wedding season, and I couldn't be more thrilled. My cousin just happens to be her maid of honor and planned the sweetest Tea Party themed bridal shower at Feathernester's. Having no idea what to expect, I was so thrilled at the actual venue. Though in the middle of what seems to be the not so pretty part of town, the inside is like this little hidden treasure. A darling little boutique like shop filled with antique-y goodies. In the back we had our own room sectioned off for our tea party. A wonderful afternoon with old friends (several Sigmas!) was just what I've been needing. It left me happy, content, and filled with excitement for the beautiful bride's upcoming wedding!!

Easter Sunday was spent at home cooking. All Giada recipes!! (with the exception of the ham. Spent hours trying to make an angel food cake, SO FRUSTRATING! Time after time I couldn't get the egg whites to foam up the way they're supposed to. 12 eggs the first time, 12 eggs the second time, 4 eggs the last time. We even did research, some testimonials swearing that it's impossible to do this with a plastic bowl, as the oils stick to the plastic. So the third time we reduced the portions and tried in a glass bowl. It did get thicker than ever before, but not nearly to where it should have. So, I'm convinced it's my hand mixer. It just feels like it doesn't have enough power on the high setting to let in that amount of oxygen. We had bought a cheap one at Target, though my sights had been set on a rather expensive one at Williams Sonoma. When I say rather expensive, I mean more than double the price of said Target mixer. Ugh. Looks like this update will have to be made! Because I swear I'm going to do this, and do it well. (Even if my godmother-queen of cooking- says she hasn't been able to do it either).
So what a beautiful weekend with my family and pristine weather. Couldn't ask for more.
Out to dinner with the girls tonight as Christina's in town on her spring break! Yay :)

Happy Tuesday, and Happy Early Summer!!